The Starving and the Blind

[Onith Trill]

It was a sunny day on the Republic's capital world of Coruscant, the maze of skyscrapers gleaming in the reflected light. A day that found Yurick Rodecken outside the Jedi Temple, at a small barbeque joint outside the docking and refueling station. In truth the meat did little, if anything, to nourish him but from a mental standpoint it kept his mind away from feeding, which was helped. His former teacher Aleidis Ijet had left the Jedi Order in order to pursue a career in politics, which he wished her the best in, but she was a bit of a stabilizing force in his life, and he had trouble adapting to life without her. He had bounced from trainer to trainer, not learning much, and finding little solace in anything but maintaining the garden, started by the Ithorian Boolon Murr and passed down to Aleidis Ijet, now maintained by mostly him.

As he continued into his meal his distaste for the meat became more and more apparent, and about halfway through he discarded the meal altogether, half finished, and decided to head for the market. He had needed to purchase some fertilizer, and sadly the heavily populated refueling station was one of the closest places to get some. Through the thralls of people he pushed forward, supposing he could meet people of any trade or nationality, which he was supposed was fine. At least as long as he could keep his appetite in check.

@[member="Xeni Kraylu"]

 

[Xeni Kraylu]

Slender wrists moved towards the cloak, a simple steel grey mechanism strapped to it. A silent moment before a blue laser line scanned the presented item. One, two, three...


"Property of item requested: Colour. Inquiry result: Black with a border of grey markings," stated the machine monotonously. A small smirk graced her lips. Oh, how this thing saved her hassles! Nodding at the cloak, she pulled forth her small satchel and rummaged for the petty card. "Er... T-that'll be twenty-five credits, Miss," the young merchant stammered, his tone racking with confusion. She didn't spoil his other merchandise, did she? She traded the card for the cloak, blatantly ignoring the youth's ignorance. The material felt cool against her skin and of decent quality. Her latest cloak had saw its end on her previous academic journey where the ... slightly vicious fauna had gotten a hold of it. "Here you are. Thank you for your business."


She nodded, retrieved her card, and went on her way, putting the card away and her new cloak around her shoulders. Sunlight warmed her pale skin. However, the bright light never did blind her. A pro for being Miraluka she supposed. The price was only unable to actually see the beautiful sky in its glorious 'colours'. But hey, she's used to it. The blindfolded woman turned her head down as she went through her mental shopping list. Surely, she had finished her chores early. Her chestnut hair laid atop her black-clothed blindfold, the wind playing with its feathery strands. Food? Check. First Aid supplies? Check. Send off report? Double check. Cloak? Check, thank goo-


Her petite body met with quite an opposing force, colliding and landing on her rump. Well, that was pleasant. She 'glanced' up and, behold, a giant. Well, correction. A giant humanoid. She paused, digesting and deciphering about the being towering her form. She tilted her head. Her vision outlined a beautiful face, long hair, and a powerful body. Her eyebrows furrowed. The Force was leaning towards the 'good' with this one. Not an extreme lean but certainly a lean. Snapping out of her thoughts, she scrambled up and grabbed the Being's hand (She honestly couldn't tell what gender the pretty-faced thing was.). Quickly her fingers moved into the stranger's palm. Sign language, a talent that she had perfected.


I apologize! I was not paying attention! I hope I did not ruin any of your clothing,.... She paused in her actions, 'looking' up at the person. Raised eyebrows. The body type suggested male, but she'd had seen all sorts of things...

-------------
OOC: @[member="Yurik Rodecken"]

 

[Onith Trill]

Yurik continued on through the market, purchasing various fertilizer, pesticides, and mulch and having them delivered to the Jedi Temple, before the man knocked backwards by colliding with a blindfolded woman. He turned and saw as the brunette had been knocked a good bit farther down, to her posterior in truth.

"I am so sorry." Yurik apologized, and helped the woman return to a standing position. As she stood up however she kept her hands locked with his except, well, they weren't really locked she was more running her fingers across them. It was an odd sensation, and one that confused Yurik immensely.

"Are you alright?" He questioned, his voice though not the deepest was more than deep enough to confirm that he was male. The woman, far as he could could tell, was blind, though he could sense the Force in her. As the Anzati preferred their prey to be more powerful in the Force it made him a bit more hungry, but after living in a temple full of Jedi for the past year or so he had learned to control it a bit. It was still difficult of course, but he would live without incident. Hopefully.

"Can you understand me? Can I help you reach somewhere?" He asked, realizing that even if the woman had the Force, she might not have necessarily known where she was going.

@[member="Xeni Kraylu"]

 

[Xeni Kraylu]

She slightly jumped. The voice was male, and deep for that matter. For some reason, she did not expect that. She inspected him further. Something about this humanoid was... different. A soft alarm went off in her head, Not really danger, but caution. But what for? She couldn't tell. "Can you understand me? Can I help you reach somewhere?" he inquired. A disappointed sigh. He didn't know sign language. They should really make it an educational requirement for people these days... She turned her face towards his and nodded to his first.

To his second question, she had to pause and think. Did she? She rarely came to ridiculously over-sized 'city' and getting around was indeed a complicated puzzle. Eyebrows furrowed again. What else was she looking for? Her sect had yet to assign her to any specific place in her new position, so she had been researching different galactic wonders. One had piqued her interest. Ah, right!

The library! A grimace. Finding that in this was going to be lovely trip to disaster and back. She tapped her chin. Should she trust this stranger? Well, it wouldn't hurt to ask. She riffled through her satchel, bringing out her small datapad and the pen. After a quick boot-up, she began writing. Mind you, her handwriting was far from elegant. Quite far. She made no effort in structuring a normal sentence and opted to simply put Library* on the pad. Hopefully It was evenly spaced out and legible since she couldn't technically see the letters.

She then turned the object towards the man and awaited his response. Surely, that one word is enough to get her point across.

-----
@[member="Yurik Rodecken"]

 

[Onith Trill]

As Yurik asked his question the blind woman seemed keen merely to wait, not speaking as she sat and pondered. From what he could tell she did not enjoy speaking, or perhaps could not at all. To be blind and mute . . . that would explain somethings, though it made Yurik's heart heavy to think of. Such a fate couldn't have been easy to deal with, and Yurik had no issues sympathizing with those with unusual, or difficult lives.

The woman tapped her chin, and then began to scour through her satchel and Yurik supposed she had figured out what she was going to say, or show, or something. Out of her satchel came a datapad and a stylus, and the woman began writing on the datapad, putting rough general motions to scratch out the letters she wished to convey. The final product was neither quik nor pretty, but it was . . . somewhat legible, and Yurik made out the work literary. No . . . Litany. No, Library, that made more sense.

"I can take you there." He said, with abit of confidence, before taking a moment and thinking. If she couldn't see how would he lead her to the Temple Archives? After a moment of thought he reached his hand forward and grabbed the sleeve of the woman's shirt, and using that as a medium began to walk into the direction of the Jedi Temple.

"It's not too far from here. Shouldn't be long."

@[member="Xeni Kraylu"]

 

[Xeni Kraylu]

She smiled softly at his answer. She put away the device and awaited for him to lead. Surprise rattled her when the man grabbed her sleeve. Did he think her a child and incapable of walking by herself? Nonetheless, she followed. A few minutes has passed that it hit her that the stranger that she was a blind human. Not a Miraluka. A puff of air was the only sign of her amusement. Well, at least the man was kind of enough to drag her along.

She took a minute to take in her surroundings while her body went on autopilot. She was always wary of big, busy cities. If horrible things could happen in small slums, gods know what might happen here. Her neck craned backwards as she took in the skyscrapers. Her vision was hard to describe. Should a normal being see through her eyes, they would find that living things were colored based on how their Force took shape and not-so living were a weird transparent but solid appearance. Vague outlines traced over reality. No shadows, no glaring light; sort of like a two dimensional drawing. Of course, she could not describe it like this since half of what people say make no sense to her. Ah, the dependency of vocabulary on the senses.

They winded their way through crowds and walkways. She wondered (and hoped) that the library he was taking was a decent one. Finding intel on this ... creature.. was quite an endeavor, and she has thoroughly dissected numerous libraries only to end up empty-handed.
--------
@[member="Yurik Rodecken"]

 

[Onith Trill]

Yurik continued, escorting the woman as he went, first into the Jedi Temple, which unbeknownst to Yurik, would be a place the miraluka would likely see as brighter than others due to the density of Force Users.

"We're almost there." he stated as they passed through the Jedi Temple, security giving him no issues but fellow Jedi giving him more than a few odd looks. Since his master had left the Order Yurik hadn't really been seen with anything other than the plants of his garden, but he didn't care. He was entitled to help people every once in a while.

After a moment of scurrying about the place they arrived at the Jedi Archives, shelves and shelves of datapads, one of the best places for information of the galaxy before the Plague. Though she wouldn't likely see it there were floors upon floors of the data, and computers all around dedicated to merely being directories of the information.

"Well, this is it." He said to @[member="Xeni Kraylu"]. "What are you looking for?"

 

[Xeni Kraylu]

She should've known from his own aura. A small sigh as she entered the Temple. Nothing against the Jedi but having any large amount of Jedi, Sith, or major Force users gave her small headaches since they are so... 'bright' in her vision. They engulf it. She marched on however, determined to (hopefully) finally get information on her research. The Jedi have to know something.

Upon entering what seemed to be their Archives, her eyebrows shot up. Well. This was pretty big. She usually tended to avoid large libraries and find the information first-hand. But this particular subject was an exception. She inspected the room, impressed the size and quality of information. His voice drew her attention back to reality. "What are you looking for?" he inquired, probably still under the impression that she was a blind human. Once again she took out the datapad.

Surely you have heard of the Teljkon Vagabond?*

-------
OOC: @[member="Yurik Rodecken"]

 

[Onith Trill]

Yurik watched as the woman fumbled about her datapad, putting in this and that as the anzati watched her progress. Teljkon Vagabond . . . Nope, didn't ring any bells.

"I must confess I have not." Yurik replied "But let's see if I can possibly find it." He said, as he went over to one of the terminals and began inputting his log-in information. After a few quick searches he found what he was looking for, the Teljkon Vagabond. It seemed it was an odd ship, last spotted 800 years ago, though rumors were surfacing that it had been spotted again recently.

"It looks like an interesting ship, though I'm not sure it'd still be around. There's a file of it on the third floor, section Leth."

@[member="Xeni Kraylu"]

 

[Xeni Kraylu]

The man had barely finished speaking by the time she bolted. While she avoided libraries, they all had similar setups. Third, third, third.. Her nimble feet practical shot up the stairs, sparing no time to sweat. Isk, Jenth, Krill...

She gracefully glided around the other Jedi occupants as she rushed around the floor until she reached what logically was section Leth. She panted slightly, her cheeks slightly hued pink from her excitement. Finally she had found something. She marched down the aisle, prepared to devour the knowledge that has eluded her for months. However, upon turning towards the shelves, her grin sank into despair and slight irritation. All they have are datapads! She hung her head in defeat. She knew it. She did not believe Life had a bad or good intention. But she was almost positive it had a sick sense of humour at times.

What's wrong with scrolls or books?! She mentally yelled at no one particular. Of course the Jedi would try to keep up the the latest way of storing information. What was she to do now? Technical, she could still find the datapad. Or, correction have someone fetch it for her. But she couldn't read it. Unless that particular pad had a voice feature. Even then, she doesn't know how to activate. It was about now that she realized that she had left her helper on the first floor in her scurry of happiness. She paled. Oh bother, she just didn't how to be a normal being, did she?

--------
OOC: @[member="Yurik Rodecken"]

 

[Onith Trill]

Yurik turned to see the woman running. In a library. How impolite. A few jedi watched with puzzled looks on their faces, while others looked at him and sneered, or laughed. He merely shrugged his shoulders and walked after the woman, taking his time to go up the steps, and towards section leth, passing other sections and notably confused Jedi as he went forward.

Wait, if she's blind, how did she get here? Yurik questioned himself, as he thought of the woman's speed and hurried nature in their pursuits. The woman had to have seen someway . . . She did have the Force, perhaps she could sense the environment . . . no, then she wouldn't know directions, only where things were. She had to have seen something somehow, but the only thing Yurik had heard of with that sort of ability was-


She's a Miraluka. He said, and slapped his temple. Idiot Yurik, not realizing what was going on. He mentally berated himself as he reached section Lenth, to see a mentally distraught woman looking forward, yet not at anything in particular.

"So, I think I have come to the conclusion you are a Miraluka." He said, as he joined her in the shelving aisle.

@[member="Xeni Kraylu"]

 

[Xeni Kraylu]

She whipped her head towards the young man, slightly embarrassed recalling her previous behavior. She bowed to him in apology; hopefully, he won't kick her out for such actions.

"So, I think I have come to the conclusion you are a Miraluka," he stated, the disappointment in himself underlying. Silence. She bit her lip to hold back a smirk. Well, he didn't ask. He.. assumed. Something Jedi should never do. Lesson learned. She smiled and nodded then gently gestured to the shelf in a pleading manner. Perhaps he was still willing to help her?

Her body was buzzing with excitement at this discovery, and it showed. She was unconsciously bouncing, waiting for his response.

------
@[member="Yurik Rodecken"]

 

[Onith Trill]

At Yurik's statement the woman smiled in confirmation, before motioning towards the shelves. She was noticeably excited, perhaps even bubbly at the response of getting her necessary data. But the data was in a datapad, and she couldn't very well read screens. He supposed that she needed some help.

"Teljkon Vagabond was it?" He said, more in confirmation than question, before rifling through the datapads, to find a datapad on the Qella System. "Let me see, Qella, ice age, here we go, Teljkon Vagabond. It was a ship, organic in nature yet not a Yuuzhan Vong biot, rather odd weapons systems, supposedly carried the DNA of an extinct race, attempted to teraform the planet Brath Qella, was last seen in 17 ABY." He said, listing off summaries of the descriptions of the ship to @[member="Xeni Kraylu"]

 

[Xeni Kraylu]

She listened intently. Some things she knew, others she did not. Like how the ship attacked. That was... surprisingly clever! However, her main question remained unanswered. Had the Qella successfully returned? Did the ship complete its quest? She pursed her lips in thought as his voice slowly became background.

She sifted through her knowledge. Yes.. Maybe perhaps they did! Quite likely! She grinned and grabbed the man's wrists in excitement. Unknowingly, she blasted her thoughts into the telepathic channels. 'Oh, the things to learn! It's quite possible they are alive. OR, at least in the process! What amazing things they did. That ship rivaled the Vong ships! Amazing!' She mentally shouted, her excitement exploding. Mind you, the Qella may not be fully developed but the thought of future knowledge being obtained was always a treat.

Finally, she realized what she had done and suddenly moved, quite apologetic in getting caught up in her enthusiasm.
-----
@[member="Yurik Rodecken"]

 

[Onith Trill]

Yurik watched as she listened, and grabbed his wrists, causing him to be a bit surprised, visibly shaken even, before his mind was bombarded with thoughts.

"That's a lot quicker than you having to write everything." He said, trying to phrase his words in such a way that didn't insult her handwriting. "Is telepathy very stressful for you? I've never been able to maintain communication like that for very long, or in a very concise manner." He said, though he supposed it was likely easier for her, as she hadn't been so used to relying on . . . conventional methods of communication.

@[member="Xeni Kraylu"]

 

[Xeni Kraylu]

His words startled her. I guess he had his channels open. . . A silent pause. 'It was at first. I could barely stand it for more than five minutes. But, as I continued, it became like second nature to me. And, yes. Much easier that writing,' she finally responded, somewhat relieved the man did not mind that random mental intrusion.

'Oh, how rude of me. Thank you for helping me find this. It was needed! Name's Xeni. Xeni Kraylu.' She held out her hand for a handshake. 'And my amazing helper is...?' She smiled in his direction. Her mind wandered to her surroundings. By all technicality, this was her first time in a Temple. The overwhelming positive energy had slowly begun to be a dull ache in her head as she took it in. Finally, her vision rested on him. He wasn't human, but at least a Near Human. Once again, soft alarms sounded within, cautioning her away from him. But why?

-----
@[member="Yurik Rodecken"]

 

[Onith Trill]

"Yurik Rodecken." He said, and shaked the woman's hand, his grip a bit firm, yet not completely so, as if he knew the value of confidence but couldn't quite bring himself to it. "Padawan healer." He gave his rank as he let go of her hand.

"Normally I'd offer to get you a copy of the data, but I don't think it'd be particularly useful to you." He said, as he considered the Miraluka's situation. To be honest, he wasn't even quite sure how the woman had piloted a ship to get over here. How she managed to run the controls, plot the hyperspace route, and everything else that would have needed . . . some form of interaction he supposed.

"Would you want a co-pilot perhaps?" He asked, thinking of the consequences of the offer. He had found himself distanced from the Jedi Order as of late, and some time off might do some good . . . or it might result in him reverting to his old hunting days. A risk, perhaps one he'd need to warn @[member="Xeni Kraylu"] of . . . no, she'd likely shun him if she knew what he was. He couldn't blame her, predators as he had a sort of natural repulsion to them.

 

[Xeni Kraylu]

Yurik. She opted to take no notice in how he felt hollow to her. 'A Healer? That's quite an occupation,' Xeni nodded. Being a Healer of any sorts took long hours of practice and even longer hours of learning. Her respect increased just a slight. Individuals who opted to enlighten themselves even in the smallest bit were always on the right path in her opinion.

She chuckled at his statement of the datapad. Sometimes it was troublesome to use those. "Would you want a co-pilot perhaps?" Her head shot up to look at his face. . . . Oh? She tilted her head in thought. She never really traveled with anyone anymore since the Jal Shey deemed her worthy enough for independent exploration. As long as she tended to whatever assignment they give her. She doubted that Yurik and herself would have any personal issues, but you could never assume.

Some more hesitation before she responded. 'I wouldn't mind one, if you're willing to travel with a Jal Shey mentor. I'm currently also seeking out the B'omarr monks, if you're also interested,' she conceded, happy that she might finally have a partner in learning. 'But will your Order let you?' Xeni inquired, gesturing around. He was a Healer after all.

------
@[member="Yurik Rodecken"]

 

[Onith Trill]

Would the Order let me? Yurik asked himself, a bit curious. He wasn't exactly essential. Though he was a healer and healers were usually in shorter supply, they didn't allow him to treat patients, fearing the scent of blood would provoke his more . . . primitive desires. He didn't have much in the way of friends or companions, admittedly due to his fears of losing control, not other's fears of him. Those who knew of him and his origins kept a watchful eye on him, but that was the extent of his contact with anything but the herbs and flowers of the garden.

"I won't be missed." He opened. "I'd love to learn of your Teljkon Vagabond and your Boring Monks." He said, not realizing he had gotten the second name wrong.

@[member="Xeni Kraylu"]

 

[Xeni Kraylu]

Her laugh filled the telepathic channel. 'B'omarr. B'omarr, little one. And we'll find out if they are or are not. But first, you mentioned Brath Qella. Thankfully, it's not too far away. However, I still need some repairs. I suggest you go and pack whatever you need and want.'

She gently took the datapad and placed back it back on the shelf. She lifted her wrist and telepathically called on the device on her wirst. 'Map.' A hologram appeared though, to Xeni, she was staring at air. "Where to?" the device questioned. 'Plot a course from here to Brath Qella.' Beeps and a small whir. "From Coruscant to Brath Qella. Is this correct?" 'Correct. Send route to ship's autopilot mainframe.' Once again, it whirred. The hologram went through the process of linking to the ship and plotting the course to be had when she got on. "Autopilot course has been plotted. Any other commands?" 'No.'

With that, the device closed down the hologram and went back to being silent.
-----
@[member="Yurik Rodecken"]